Rajasthan Government has been running Maa-Badi Centers to provide the facility of day care and education of children the tribal families that go outside for work or employment from morning 8 AM to evening 6 PM.

"Since, these tribal children are in the age group up to 12 year in vertical group setting with education and health as the main components the project, it requires different instructional strategies in the form a learning package consisting of day wise worksheets and activity sheets," said Jaipur-based retired teacher Prabha Kishore, who has the experience of working in a rural school.

As far as the provisions for running a Maa-Badi centre are concerned, 2 teachers (1 male and 1 female) and three helpers have been sanctioned who are supposed to look after and educate the tribal children of working parents. The majoriy of 30 odd children in each centre are between classes one to four. All the three meals are free for children at these centers. If children wish to take bath in the school, they can do so. Along with education, sports and entertainment activities are required to be done to keep children engaged fruitfully.

The project is going to be strengthened with the help of NGOs and inputs from the UNICEF, Jaipur. "For teaching children in vertical grouping, a leaning package based on the day wise micro-learning worksheets with provision of self-pacing is required for effective learning by such students. Some children require more time and guidance to complete a learning task, supervised homework and special assignments can be completed by students since they stay for long hours at the center," suggested Prabha Kishore.

The research by SIRDART and by me has proved that continuous progress system with micro-learning strategy and instructional material as day wise worksheets are most suitable for vertical grouping situation students and small schools. There is a need to make a shift towards 'goodness of fit' approach to make threes centers effective. Idea is good but needs to be contextalized and needs to institualized with proper learning package and teacher traing or at lear two-weeks with a field support system.